Clueless media can't find 'missing' congressman

WASHINGTON — The establishment media declared Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, “missing,” but they couldn’t find him under their own noses.

The outspoken Texan has been on the media’s radar ever since WND broke the surprising news that he will challenge Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, for his seat in the GOP primary on March 4.

But news outlets such as ABC, the Associated Press and the Huffington Post thought they had lost track of Stockman after he missed a few votes in Congress, publishing articles asking, “Have you seen U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman?”

Stockman was hardly hiding. The lawmaker the media couldn’t find was meeting with media in Russia, Israel and Egypt as part of a 10-day official congressional delegation with State Department officials.

Before the trip, Stockman told WND he would share details of his meetings with foreign leaders upon his return.

Meanwhile, the congressman observed: “You must be conservative when you’re meeting with the media and the media claim they can’t find you.”

After WND told Stockman the media had declared him missing, he said reporters knew of his trip but claimed otherwise.

He said he and his staff “decided to hold out and see how long reporters would pretend they didn’t know I was on official business.”

“We were with media and public officials every day and conducted press conferences. Reporters knew I was on an official State Department trip but refused to admit the truth because it would have spoiled their bizarre stories,” said Stockman.

He said he reiterated U.S. support for Israel and met with Egyptian and Russian officials on counter-terrorism efforts.

“State Department officials and I conducted press conferences in every city we visited. I’m proud to support Israel, and to support Egypt and Russia in their fight against terrorism,” said Stockman. “The United States has no greater ally in the Middle East than Israel.”

However, he observed, “I must have found the one place the American media won’t go, a pro-Israel press conference.”

Senate challenge

Stockman shocked the political establishment when he announced he would challenge Cornyn, the current minority whip and No. 2 Republican in the Senate.

The congressman told WND he is running against his fellow Republican because, “We are extremely disappointed in the way he treated his fellow congressmen and broke the 11th commandment and undermined (Sen.) Ted Cruz’s fight to stop Obamacare.”

The Texan added, “And now, it looks like Cruz was right and Cornyn was wrong. He (Cornyn) sided with the president, essentially, in making sure Obamacare became law while Cruz did everything possible to stop it.”

It wasn’t just what Cornyn did, but how he did it, that rankled Stockman.

“If you disagree with someone, that’s fine, but I really believe you should do it privately, not so publicly,” he said. “He made a big show of removing his name from a letter supporting Cruz.”

Stockman sounded as if he couldn’t wait to take on this new challenge.

“We think he needs to be held accountable for his decisions, and we look forward to a vigorous campaign,” he said.

The congressman also expects it will be tough to unseat the incumbent, saying, “I know John is in the habit of attacking conservatives. He didn’t back (Sen.) Marco Rubio, and he didn’t back (former Senate candidate) Joe Miller in Alaska.”